Game of Thrones: Who Are the Golden Company in Cersei's Master Plan?

Plus, a theory about how the Golden Company could tie in with some OTHER characters' storylines.

Cersei Lannister's claim over Westeros just got a significant bit weaker. The climax of "The Spoils of War" saw Daenerys Targaryen fly in on Drogon to wipe out Cersei's recently acquired food and resources, as well as a huge chunk of the Lannister army. But, as we've learned time and again, don't count the Mad Queen out just yet.

Earlier in the episode, Cersei met with the Iron Bank's Tycho Nestoris, already ready to move on to the next order of business as though the crown's debt to the Iron Bank was paid. At the time, Tycho asked Cersei what the next thing the Iron Bank could assist her with, and she mentioned needing help growing her army and navy. In specific, she said Qyburn has been making "overtures" to the Golden Company.

The Golden Company is a group of sellswords based in Essos, and actually has been referenced in Game of Thrones before. In Season 4, Davos suggested that Stannis hire the company of mercenaries, saying they were 10,000 strong and some of the most skilled fighters in the land. Of course, Stannis pushed back against the idea of hiring fighters, and we all know how well that turned out for him. Notably, Jorah Mormont also fought in the Golden Company before pledging himself to Viserys.

Hiring the Golden Company would be exactly what Cersei needs to bring the fight back to Daenerys. Interestingly, if she does bring in 10,000 sellswords from the Free Cities in to fight for Westeros, she will be falling into some of the same criticisms she leveled at Daenerys: bringing in an army of outsiders to fight this war. The real question is whether she'll be able to get to that stage of her plan.

What's really interesting is that Game of Thrones even is name-dropping the Golden Company again. That could mean big things for several other characters. Here's where we get some spoilers from the A Song of Ice and Fire novels that included below as speculation for where the TV show is headed, so read on at your own risk.

That name, "the Golden Company," likely caused most A Song of Ice and Fire book readers to sit up and take notice. Even though the show has painted a very general conception at the sellsword organization, the later ASoIaF novels -- and some released chapters from The Winds of Winter -- have made it seem like the Golden Company has a very important role to play in George R.R. Martin's version of the story.

The Golden Company was founded originally by the Targaryen bastard Aegor Rivers decades before the events of Game of Thrones, after a period known as the First Blackfyre Rebellion. Historically, the Golden Company is made up of exiles, and by the time of A Dance with Dragons, it's home to a very important, long-thought-dead exile: Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell who supposedly had his head bashed in by Gregor Clegane during Robert's Rebellion. Long story very, very short: turns out King Aerys's Hand of the King, a man named Jon Connington, had actually rescued Aegon from the Mountain when he was a baby and raised him in secret under the name "Young Griff" far away from Westeros.

It seems very unlikely that either Aegon or Jon Connington will be introduced to the TV show at this point in its story, especially since a lot of Jon's story -- specifically contracting Greyscale -- has been rolled into Jorah Mormont's character arc. But is that a clue about where the Golden Company storyline is heading? In the books, Aegon and Jon Connington are heading through Westeros to meet with Daenerys and try to marry her. Could Jorah take the place of Connington again, this time intercepting the Golden Company before Cersei can try to sway them, and bring them to Daenerys's side instead? Jorah has a connection to the organization, so that could be his next big role to play now that he's cured of Greyscale and wants to return to his queen.

The most interesting aspect of Aegon Targaryen's role in ASoIaF is that it means Daenerys isn't actually the last Targaryen left standing. Even if Aegon doesn't make it into the TV show in the same form as the books, this repeated reference to the Golden Company is a reminder that the character of Aegon, like Jon Connington, could be rolled into another pre-existing character on the show. Like, say, another rumored-to-be-Targaryen person whose name rhymes with Don Blow.

How do you think the Golden Company will factor into Game of Thrones? Let us know in the comments below!

Terri Schwartz is Editorial Producer at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.